Wedjat Eye Amulet

Wedjat Eye Amulet

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Discovered with some later, intrusive burials with the early temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri (constructed around 1500 BCE), this was one of a group of loose amulets and strings of beads that was found inside a small woven thread basket that had in turn been placed in a larger basket. This amulet is a wedjat, the eye of Horus that was injured in a battle with his uncle, the god Seth, and then restored by the god Thoth. It was considered an embodiment of the power of healing and a symbol of rebirth.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.